2016/17 Artists in Residence

Brooks-Dalton’s memoir, Motorcycles I’ve Loved, was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. She currently lives wherever her truck is parked while she works on her next book.

LAURIE SANSOMTheater Director
Scotland, UK

Sansom was the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the National Theatre of Scotland from 2013 to 2016 and wrote and directed the first stage adaptation of Muriel Spark’s novella, The Driver’s Seat.

Teschner received her BFA in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2003 and her MFA from California College of the Arts in 2007. Her work is included in the permanent collection of the De Young Museum in San Francisco.

Weiss studied art at Louisiana State University where she received her MFA in painting and drawing. Lisa has exhibited in solo and group shows nationally and is included in private collections throughout the globe.

At 17, Casey fled to Mexico to study the murals of Siqueiros and to secretly join the Zapatistas. But she ended up in communication design, where her work was been published internationally, including the award-winning modern visual reference guide SHOW ME HOW.

Tull attended the Academy of Art University, San Francisco online for animation while simultaneously attending the University of Illinois for art education. Her work has been has been represented by several galleries from Long Island NY to Champaign IL.

After a tip called into law enforcement authorities in 2002, Elahi was subjected to an intensive investigation by the FBI where he was finally cleared of suspicions months later. This harrowing experience let him to conceive “Tracking Transience,” a project that tracks the artist and his points of transit in real-time.

Pinede is the author of a poetry chapbook, An Invisible Geography. Her fiction has appeared in Haiti Noir and her nonfiction was published in Becoming: What Makes a Woman. She was also a contributor to American Decades: Primary Sources (1930s and 1940s).

Grobstein’s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions nationally, including recent exhibitions at Arcilesi + Homberg Fine Art in New York, and This Friday or Next Friday in Brooklyn. She is also on the Visual Arts faculty at the 92nd St Y in Manhattan.

As a journalist based in New York, Wallwork spent 10 years writing about travel and entertainment for a range of publications. She is the author of the nonfiction book, Hangin’ Tough, about the New Kids on the Block album of the same name.

Huttemann-Holz started as a poet, but a sudden move to the US triggered an end to her writings. A universal language was needed. It wasn’t long before she discovered the ancient Greek practice of encaustic painting. Her work has exhibited in England, Turkey, Germany, Netherlands and extensively in the United States.

KATIE PUMPHREYPainter
Washington, DC
Pumphrey is a large scale painter, with work focusing on movement, mass, competitive roles, and instincts. Her work balances imagery and fast-paced brushstrokes. Katie is also a long-distance, open water swimmer, which often influences and drives her work.

Goesling discovered Scratchboards, hard boards covered in a layer of clay and then a layer of India ink, while undergoing a cancer diagnosis in 2006. The idea that adversity teaches us to turn the negative into a positive is a great analogy for transforming these black boards into thriving works of art.

Van Maurik is best known for her bold floral paintings, dramatic use of light, and mastery of color. Her paintings have been exhibited at the SNBA Salon held at the Louvre. She has been called a “Genius of light” and her paintings have been compared to that of famed American Artist, Georgia O’Keeffe.

Haddad is a composer of orchestral, chamber, vocal, and electroacoustic music who achieves a “remarkable fusion of idioms” (New York Times), most notably in his work exploring the disparate qualities inherent in Western art music and Middle Eastern musical tradition.

Rivecca is the author of “Death is Not an Option: Stories” (WW Norton 2010), which won the Rome Prize in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was a finalist for The Story Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award, & more. Currently, she is working on a new fiction project that draws heavily from her decade of experience working with people experiencing homelessness and poverty in San Francisco.

Sigler’s poetry has appeared in Poet Lore, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Harpur Palate and others. Her fiction has been published in Water~Stone, Copper Nickel, and Silk Road. Her chapbook, Calamity, was published by Proem Press. Her book of poems, living must bury, was published by Fence Books. She writes a lot about the several stranded Midwestern towns in which she grew, the cities that came after, and the Maine island she calls home.

Chuang’s debut memoir, The Four Words for Home, tells the interwoven stories of her journey into the lives of an Afghan family after 9/11 and her own Chinese American family’s immigrant story. The book was the winner of the Willow Books Literature Awards Grand Prize in Prose.

Hart is a DC born photographer and mixed media artist residing in Florida, where she is an Assistant Professor of Art at Florida Atlantic University. Her work has been exhibited throughout the US and internationally, including Berlin Foto Biennale, The Center for Fine Art Photography, and Spectrum Miami Art Fair-Art Basel.

Gwirtzman’s diverse repertory has earned praise for its humor, stylistic versatility, musicality, charisma and accessibility. His choreography has been performed at venues throughout the country and abroad.

Larusso earned her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art’s graduate interdisciplinary program, the Mount Royal School of Art. She maintains a solid studio practice, exhibiting her work locally, nationally, and internationally.

Born in Philadelphia, Sweeney graduated with a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the Philadelphia College of Art in 1976. Primarily a landscape painter, he has been showing his work at Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia since 1980.

JUL-AUG 2017

BONNIE BOITER-JOLLEYBallet Dancer, Choreographer
Columbia, SC

At the University of South Carolina, Boiter-Jolley studied under former New York City Ballet Soloist Stacey Calvert. She has performed principal roles in numerous productions including Balanchine’s “Serenade,” “Who Cares?,” and “Valse Fantasie.” She has also performed in Italy, Czech Republic, and at the SummerStage series in New York.

CHAD HENDERSONTheater Director, Actor
Columbia, SC

Henderson is the Artistic Director of Trustus Theatre, a professional contemporary theatre in Columbia, SC. Known for imaginative staging, he was named Artist of the Year in Theatre by Jasper Magazine. He has also directed many professional productions at Trustus Theatre, as well as The Studios event One Night Stand on two occasions.

ELISABETH GRAY HEARD ENGLEActor, Director, Teacher
Columbia, SC

Heard Engle is an actor, teacher, director and Company member at the Trustus Theatre, in Columbia South Carolina. Some of her favorite acting credits include The System (Suzy) at La Mama, E.T.C. New York and Fusions (Company) with UniArts Productions & many more.

Engle is a multi-discipline designer. He is currently a scenic design MFA candidate at the University of South Carolina. Past theatre shows include designs for Green Day’s American Idiot, Peter and the Star Catcher, Dreamgirls and Evil Dead: The Musical at Trustus Theatre.